The Long Key Bridge, officially known as the Dante B. Fascell Bridge, is a bridge in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of ...

connecting

Long Key Long Key is an island in the middle Florida Keys. Long Key was called Cayo Víbora (Rattlesnake Key) by early Spanish explorers, a reference to the shape of the island, which resembles a snake with its jaws open, rather than to its denizens. The ...

and

Conch Key Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

, roughly halfway between

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

and

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

. At a length of nearly two and a half miles, it is the second longest bridge on the

Overseas Highway The Overseas Highway is a highway carrying U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the Florida Keys to Key West. Large parts of it were built on the former right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast R ...

after the

Seven Mile Bridge The Seven Mile Bridge is a bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bri ...

. The current bridge opened in 1982, replacing the parallel Long Key Viaduct, which carried the

Overseas Railroad The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. Work on the line ...

from 1907 to 1935 and was repurposed for highway use shortly after.

Current Structure

Opening in 1982, the current bridge was built as part of a modernization effort for the entire Overseas Highway to replace the aging historic bridges originally built for the Overseas Railroad. The current bridge is a box-girder structure built from precast, prestressed concrete sections. The bridge consists of 103 spans total, two of which are 117 feet long with the remaining spans at a length of 118 feet. The spans are supported by a series of "V"-shaped piers. This method allowed the superstructure to be pieced together in less than 12 months. Bridges built in the keys at this time were some of the first in North America to be built using this method. The current bridge is officially named after

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Dante Fascell Dante Bruno Fascell (March 9, 1917 – November 28, 1998) was an American politician who represented Florida as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1955 to 1993. He served as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee ...

, who served from 1955 to 1993. He is best known for championing legislation to create

Biscayne National Park Biscayne National Park is an American national park located south of Miami, Florida in Miami-Dade County. The park preserves Biscayne Bay and its offshore barrier reefs. Ninety-five percent of the park is water, and the shore of the bay is the l ...

Long Key Viaduct

The current structure was built to replace the Long Key Viaduct, which still stands parallel to the bridge. The Long Key Viaduct was completed in 1907 by

Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...

as part of his

, the Key West Extension of the

Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a ...

(though the railroad would not fully reach Key West until 1912). The viaduct was built with a series of 186 concrete

arches An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

, a design used by most of the railroad bridges in the keys. The Florida East Coast Railway often used the Long Key Viaduct in promotional material for the Overseas Railroad. Rail service was discontinued after the

Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 The Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 was the most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall on record by pressure, with winds of up to 185 mph (297 km/h). The fourth tropical cyclone, third tropical storm, second hurricane, and sec ...

struck the area, which irreparably destroyed the railroad in the upper keys. The viaduct itself though was not heavily damaged. The Florida East Coast Railway then sold the remaining right of way and infrastructure to the state, who then built the Overseas Highway along the route. To accommodate the highway, the tracks on the bridge were replaced by a new two-lane wide reinforced concrete surface for automobile traffic.

The Long Key Viaduct was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

on August 13, 1979, along with the original

and the

Bahia Honda Rail Bridge The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge is a derelict railroad bridge in the lower Florida Keys connecting Bahia Honda Key with Spanish Harbor Key. It was originally part of the Overseas Railway, but the state of Florida purchased it from the Florida East ...

. The viaduct was replaced by the current highway bridge shortly after in 1982. After discontinuation of automobile traffic, the viaduct was repurposed again as a bike path and fishing pier. For the most part, the deck of the viaduct was reduced to its original width from the railroad era. There are several fishing platform on both sides of the bridge. The viaduct is now part of the

Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail is a paved rail trail—a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian facility—being constructed between Key Largo and Key West in the Florida Keys. , of the trail has been constructed. History and route Using ...

, a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path that will eventually run the entire length of the Overseas Highway.

References

{{Bridges of Florida Bridges completed in 1982 Bridges in Monroe County, Florida Florida East Coast Railway Landmarks in Florida Railroad bridges in Florida Tourist attractions in the Florida Keys Road bridges in Florida U.S. Route 1 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System 1982 establishments in Florida Viaducts in the United States Concrete bridges in the United States Arch bridges in the United States Box girder bridges in the United States

Current Structure

Long Key Viaduct

See also

References